Catheters with bevelled drainage holes

Abstract

A method and a device for forming holes ( 17 a, 17 b ) through a lateral wall of a catheter are disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a section of the catheter between a pair of tubular punching members 6 , driving at least one of said pair of tubular punching members towards the other in order to punch through said lateral wall 23 of the catheter and thereby sever one pair of oppositely located hole pieces from the lateral wall, actuating an ejection unit 7 , in order to force said severed hole pieces away from the catheter via said internal lumen of the tubular punching members, withdrawing said pair of tubular punching members. A catheter 2 produced is also disclosed.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for forming holes through a lateral wall of a catheter, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing a section of the catheter between a pair of tubular punching members each having an internal lumen and aligned so that their central longitudinal axes coincide;   driving at least one tubular punching member of said pair of tubular punching members towards the other in order to punch through said lateral wall of the catheter and thereby to sever one pair of oppositely located hole pieces from the lateral wall;   actuating an ejection unit, in order to force said severed hole pieces away from the catheter via one of said internal lumens of the tubular punching members;   withdrawing, after said actuating of the ejection unit, said pair of tubular punching members.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of actuating the ejection unit comprises:
 driving an ejector tool at least partly through the internal lumen in a longitudinal direction of one tubular punching member and subsequently at least partly through the internal lumen of the other tubular punching member; and   withdrawing said ejector tool.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of actuating the ejection unit comprises:
 blowing compressed air through the internal lumen of said pair of tubular punching members.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the catheter is a urinary catheter. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of driving the tubular punching members towards each other brings the tubular punching members to contact with each other within a lumen of the section of the catheter. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the catheter is a urinary catheter and wherein the holes have a diameter between 1.0 and 1.5 mm. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the catheter is a urinary catheter and wherein the holes have a diameter between 1.1 and 1.4 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of driving the tubular punching members towards each other brings the tubular punching members to a position where a distance between the tubular punching members is in the range of 2-5 micrometer. 
     
     
         9 . A method for forming holes through a lateral wall of a catheter, said method comprising the steps of:
 a) providing a section of the catheter between a pair of tubular punching members each having an internal lumen and aligned so that their central longitudinal axes coincide;   b) driving at least one tubular punching member of said pair of tubular punching members towards the other in order to punch through said lateral wall of the catheter and thereby to sever one pair of oppositely located hole pieces from the lateral wall;   c) actuating an ejection unit, in order to force said severed hole pieces away from the catheter via one of said internal lumens of the tubular punching members;   d) withdrawing, after said actuating of the ejection unit, said pair of tubular punching members;   e) adjusting a longitudinal and rotational position of the catheter between the pair of tubular punching members; and   f) repeating steps a-d.